Moments In Time
by MsRaven
Summary: WIP - Part of my Conversations Universe. Weir-Sheppard. Formerly titled Wedding Bells.
1. Three Days

**Moments in Time (Formerly Wedding Bells)**

**Summary:** Part of my Conversations Universe. Weir-Sheppard. The first wedding on Atlantis.

**Spoilers:** I think that everything up to Home is fair game.

**Disclaimer:** Stargate Atlantis and its characters do not belong to me.

**Author's Note:** Finally...an update to my Conversations Universe. This is AU. If you haven't read any of my stories in this series, you may want to go do that before reading this.

Major John Sheppard takes the stairs two at a time. He gives a quick smile and wave to the men and women in the control room but doesn't break stride as he moves toward the office at the end of the walkway. He's a man on a mission.

Dr. Elizabeth Weir looks up from the reports in front of her when John enters her office. She gives him a bright smile that stops him in his tracks. That special smile she reserves for him never fails to make him a little breathless.

It's been almost 3 months since their run-in with the Ancient. They've been taking their new relationship slow, partly to make sure they don't confuse their feelings with the false memories and party because it's difficult to maintain any relationship in Atlantis. Being the ranking military officer and the expedition commander makes it downright impossible.

John takes a few steps forward and leans his arms against the desk, facing her.

"I have a proposition for you," he says.

Elizabeth assesses him warily. She takes in the quirky half smile and mischievous glint in his eyes. Everything about him is screaming, "I want to go play."

"No John. I really have to get through these reports today."

Sheppard's face instantly transforms into a pout.

"But we haven't seen each other in three days," he whines.

"We saw each other at the briefing this morning," she corrects him.

"That doesn't count."

John literally stamps his foot and a mental image of a four year old doing the same thing zips through her head. Elizabeth can't help but grin up at him.

"This isn't funny," he says indignantly. "I've been off-world for three days!"

"I know. I missed you too." Elizabeth's smile softens and he knows that she's being sincere.

John can't let his feeling for Elizabeth get in the way of his missions. While he's off-world, he needs to focus on keeping his team and himself safe. But as the shield drops and he steps through the event horizon back to Atlantis, John feels ever second he's been away. Elizabeth is always standing at the balcony to greet him and his team no matter what time of day or night they come through. He knows that this city is home only because she's there waiting for him.

"If you really missed me," he says, leaning toward her, "you'd play hooky with me."

"John..."

Sheppard moves in even closer and Elizabeth holds perfectly still. He's not sure if she's keeping herself from moving away or towards him.

"I really wish your office didn't have glass walls." John's voice is husky and Elizabeth can't help but move forward an inch.

Her eyes just start to flutter closed when there's a knock at the door. Weir pulls back, startled. John sighs and straightens slowly away from the desk. He turns to find Dr. Kavanagh standing in the open doorway.

"Kavanagh." John acknowledges his presence a little grudgingly.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," says Kavanagh.

"What can I do for you, Ben?" asks Dr. Weir before John can answer for her.

"Uh..." Kavanagh suddenly looks nervous and glances between Weir and Sheppard.

"I can go," offers John.

"No!" responds Kavanagh quickly. "I...um...you can stay. We're making an announcement today anyway."

"An announcement?" asks Elizabeth.

"Yes," says the scientist with a big smile. "Dr. Simpson and I are getting married."

John turns to Dr. Weir quizzically. The name doesn't immediately ring a bell.

"Fiona Simpson?" confirms Weir.

"Yes," says Kavanagh proudly.

Sheppard's eyebrows raise in surprise as he finally realizes who Kavanagh's new fiancé is. Elizabeth comes around the desk and gives Ben a warm hug to hide her own surprise.

"Congratulations!" she says.

"Uh, yeah. Congratulations." John steps forward to shake Kavanagh's hand.

"We'd prefer a short engagement," continues the scientist with a big smile, "but weren't sure if there was anyone on Atlantis that can perform the ceremony."

Elizabeth frowns as she mentally scans through the team roster. A justice of the peace wasn't exactly on their required attendee list. She quickly goes through the possible options before asking Kavanagh a question.

"Do you need the ceremony performed by someone from Earth?"

"Uh...no, I guess not," responds Kavanagh.

"Maybe you could ask Dr. Simpson if she minds? If we can't find anyone from Earth to perform the ceremony, then maybe one of the Athosians could do it," offers Elizabeth.

"I'm sure they'd be happy to," adds John. "I could go ask Teyla if there's anyone she could recommend."

"I think that Fiona would love for to be married in an Athosian ceremony, but I'll double check with her. Thanks for all your help."

The scientist runs off, presumably to find his fiancé.

John is sitting against Elizabeth's desk with a bemused expression on his face. She joins him, sitting close enough for their shoulders to be touching.

"Well that was unexpected news," starts Elizabeth.

"That's one way to describe it," says John. "Aren't they constantly fighting?"

"Pretty much."

"Well..." John smirks. "There's probably good incentive for making up."

Elizabeth laughs, realizing she's barely smiled in about three days. She puts her head on John's shoulder, no longer caring if the others in the control room can see.

"I've missed you," she says softly.

John rests his cheek against the top of her head and holds her hand lightly.

"I have a feeling that doesn't mean you're willing to play hooky with me," he says with a sigh.

"I really need to finish these reports."

"How much longer?" John asks, glancing down at the reports sitting on the desk behind them.

"Um..." Elizabeth thinks for a moment before responding. "Two hours."

"Okay," says Sheppard as he stands. "Two hours. Meet me in my quarters?"

"Okay."

Elizabeth beams up at him and John can't help giving her a quick kiss before he turns to leave her office.

He goes back down the stairs, thinking that talking to Teyla about Kavanagh's wedding may be a good way to pass the next two hours. John has a feeling that the remaining 7123 seconds were going to go by achingly slow.

_TBC..._

* * *

_Did I fool anyone with the title or summary? You didn't really think I'd marry them off that quick, did you? _

_FYI...I used the same trick as I did before. Ben and Fiona are the first names of the actors who played Kavanagh and Simpson during 38 Minutes. _

_Thanks to everyone who has been waiting so long for me to continue on with my series. _


	2. Two Hours

**Moments in Time, Chapter 2**

Two hours and twenty minutes later, Major Sheppard once again finds himself bounding up the stair to the control room. The time had actually gone by faster than he had anticipated.

John had found Teyla in her quarters and brought up the question of one of the Athosians performing a wedding ceremony. It had taken him fifteen minutes into her explanation of the Athosian ritual to realize that Teyla was under the false impression that it was Elizabeth and him getting married. John corrected her and spent the next half hour explaining to her why, while they did love each other, it was way too early to be talking marriage. He finally got around to telling her about Kavanagh and Simpson, which of course led to a discussion around why opposites attract.

Getting back to his quarters about an hour and a half after leaving Elizabeth's office, John fell asleep with a smile on his face, thinking forward to when the time would be right for his own wedding. He woke up after his short nap only to find that Elizabeth was late. Not being the most patient of men, John decided to go looking for her.

Sheppard gets up to the control room and walks straight into Elizabeth's office. He frowns when he finds it empty. Walking back to the control room, Grodin points in the direction of the conference room before John can verbalize his question.

"She's in there with Zelenka and McKay," says Peter.

John can't keep his eyes from rolling. McKay and Zelenka, separately, will gladly take up hours of your time spouting off about one scientific theory or another. Put them in the same room together and they feed off each other like the perfect storm. Sheppard walks into the conference room and can tell by the look of relief on Elizabeth's face that she's been trapped by the two scientists for quite some time.

"What's up boys?" John asks cheerfully and the two immediately start talking over one another.

"Major! We found this great new Ancient device."

"We don't quite know what it does yet, but I think –"

"We think it has great potential for –"

Sheppard holds up both hands to quiet them down.

"I'm guessing this is one of those devices that is better seen than heard about?" he asks, already knowing their answer.

"Of course," the two scientists answer in unison.

"Then why don't you two get back to work and we'll meet you down at your lab a little later?"

McKay and Zelenka get up eagerly and walk out of the conference room, still talking a mile a minute. John can't help but grin as Elizabeth comes around the table toward him. She rests her forehead against his shoulder with a sigh. He wraps his arms around her with a little laugh.

"Been here a while?" John asks, not hiding his amusement.

"Don't laugh at me or I'll make sure you're a required attendee at all their future scientific briefings," Elizabeth responds wryly.

"Threat received loud and clear."

Elizabeth pulls away, but not out of his arms, to look up at him.

"I just do not understand why they feel the need to have anyone else present when all they do is talk to each other during these briefings."

John shrugs. "I honestly think that they expect us to learn something from all of their rambling."

"You didn't really mean it when you said we'd go down to their lab, did you?"

"Hell no. They'll forget all about us as soon as they get down there anyway."

"Good," says Elizabeth as she puts her head back on his shoulder.

John rests his cheek lightly against her hair.

"What do you say we snag some food, commandeer one of the jumpers, and spend the night under the stars on our own private island?"

"That sounds absolutely wonderf –"

Before Elizabeth can finish her sentence, there is the unmistakable sounds of the gate dialing up.

"Unscheduled off-world activation," announces Peter's voice unnecessarily.

Elizabeth stiffens and pulls herself out of John's arms to walk out of the conference room. John follows her out. She is staring intently at the gate and he has a feeling there's more to this than the standard nervousness of what's about to come through. He's learned his lesson about her intuition.

"We don't have any teams off-world," Elizabeth says more to herself than to John. She looks across the gate room to Peter for confirmation. The engineer shakes his head. No IDC.

"Raise the shield."

The shield comes up an instant before the event horizon materializes. Elizabeth still can't shake the sudden chill that came over her when she heard the gate dialing up. There's something very wrong about this. She starts to walk across to the control room with John close behind her. As they get to the top of the main stairs, another chill makes Elizabeth stop and turn toward the gate.

There's a disturbance in the event horizon and a spherical object comes through the shield into the gate room. It hovers in the air, directly across from Weir and Sheppard.

"That shouldn't have happened," says McKay. He's frozen to the spot directly behind Peter, next to Zelenka. The two had been trying to convince the engineer to help them out in the lab when the gate started to dial in.

Elizabeth can only stare at the object in front of her with wide eyes. It looks to be about the size of a basketball, but has a smooth, metallic surface broken only by a small display of lights around its center. Another chill zips down her spine and she reacts immediately.

"John! Watch out!"

Elizabeth shoves John to the ground just as a projectile is launched out of the sphere, directly towards them.

_TBC..._

* * *

_Sorry for so much time between postings. I will also apologize for possibly having a few extra mistakes in my stories. Barely any time to write, so even less time to re-read before posting._

_Anyway...hope you like this one. Will try and update again soon. The story is thought out in my head, it's just the typing it up that's taking so long. :-)_


	3. In an Instant

**Author's Note:** If the dialogue in _italics_ then it's thought vs. spoken.

**Moments in Time, Chapter 3**

::::: Atlantis :::::

John hits the ground hard. When Elizabeth doesn't roll clear immediately, he knows that something is wrong. But he has to push the worry to the back of his mind as he pulls himself out from underneath her and fires at the sphere with his 9mm sidearm. The bullets ricochet harmlessly off some sort of shield protecting the sphere. John covers Elizabeth's body with his own in an attempt to protect her from his stray bullets.

Bates and his team enter the gate room. There's another hail of bullets as they also start firing at the sphere. John pulls Elizabeth against the far wall as bullets fly around the room. She doesn't stir. He finally glances down at her and is shocked to see something metallic sticking out of the side of her neck. Elizabeth seems to be breathing normally, but doesn't react when John calls out her name.

All of his attention is focused on the woman in front of him, so John doesn't see the sphere move toward them. Another projectile shoots out and Sheppard slumps down, unconscious, next to Weir.

::::: Elizabeth :::::

All Elizabeth is aware of is darkness. Total and complete darkness. There's a small part of her brain that wonders if she's dead. The larger portion of her mind knows that she's lying on the floor in Atlantis unconscious. She is totally disconnected from her body and Elizabeth allows herself a short moment of fear.

_Okay_, she tells herself. _Get a grip. You've been in scary situations before, don't let this one get the better of you. Think it out. What are the possibilities? One, you really are dead and the rest of your brain just doesn't want to believe it. In which case, there's not much you can do about it now. Two, the sphere paralyzed you and you'll just have to wait for Beckett to fix it. Or not...which puts you in same place of not being able to do anything about it now. _

Before Elizabeth can come up with any other scenarios, she feels another presence. She will never be able to describe to another person how this felt, but she recognizes the other consciousness instantly.

::::: Atlantis :::::

"Damn it!" yells McKay from the control room. "Stop shooting or you'll kill the rest of us!"

The shooting stops, but Bates and his team still have their guns raised toward the sphere. Ford and Teyla run into the room behind them. They spot Sheppard and Weir down on the ground and start to run toward them, but are stopped by one of Bates' men.

"Watch it, Ford," says Bates and motions toward the sphere with his gun. "That thing keeps shooting at people."

"I think it's done," comments Rodney.

"You think it's done?" asks Grodin skeptically.

"Yeah," responds McKay. "It changed color."

The others look at him incredulously and he continues.

"The lights. Around the center of the sphere. I was watching and it changed color after it shot Major Sheppard."

"And you think that means it's done shooting people?" asks Ford.

"I'm theorizing that it signals a mode change of some sort. That's it has shifted from shoot mode to...uh...another one." McKay shrugs. He's really making a wild guess, but he still thinks it's more dangerous to let Bates keep shooting at the thing.

"You're guessing." says Ford.

"I'm theorizing," emphasizes McKay.

Dr. Beckett and some of his staff walk into the room. Bates starts to stop them from walking toward their fallen commanders, but one glare from the doctor makes him back off. All the sergeant can do is follow the medical team over with one eye constantly on the sphere.

Beckett bends over the two motionless forms as the others look over his shoulder. He moves Sheppard onto his back and they all see the object coming out of his and Weir's necks.

"They're alive," says Beckett. "I'll need to run tests to see what's keeping them unconscious."

The medical team starts to prep the bodies to move to the infirmary, but McKay stops them.

"I wouldn't do that."

"And why shouldn't we?" challenges Dr. Beckett.

"I think they're tied into the sphere," counters McKay. He points down at Sheppard and Weir, then up at the sphere. A light attached to each projectile is blinking in time with the lights on the sphere.

::::: The Sphere :::::

_John?_

Elizabeth feels his immediate reaction of total and complete confusion. It takes him a moment to gather himself before he can respond.

_Elizabeth? What the hell?_

_I don't know any more than you do._ Elizabeth isn't sure why she's so comfortable conversing with John with just their thoughts, but maybe it had something to do with the time they've spent in the command chairs.

_What is this place? _asks John.

_I'm not sure if it's even really a place...are we dead? _Death suddenly isn't looking as bad now that she wasn't alone.

_I don't think so...at least you were alive the last time I saw you. You did have a piece of metal sticking out of you neck though._

_I had what sticking out of my neck?!_

_Uh..._ Sheppard realizes that it may have been a mistake to tell her that last little tidbit. _I'm sure it's nothing Beckett can't take care of. _

_You know, _comments Elizabeth_, since you're here with me, you probably have one of those things stuck in your neck too._

_Damn. You're probably right._

_To paraphrase a popular movie: Why do weird things keep happening to us?_

_Well, _responds Sheppard before he can stop himself. _Weird things didn't start happening to me until I met you._

_What's that supposed to mean?_

_Uh..._ At this point, John figures anything else he says may get him into bigger trouble. At least she can't hit him.

_I should never have answered the phone,_ says Elizabeth with a mental sigh.

_Huh?_ John didn't quite follow that non-sequitur.

_When the President called to set up a meeting – when he first told me about the Stargate – I shouldn't have answered the phone._

_But then you wouldn't have met me. _John comments a little arrogantly. He waits for a moment, but there's no response from Elizabeth.

_Uh...this is when you say you're glad you met me even with all the weird stuff._

Still no response.

_Legs?_

_I think it's cute when you suffer from low self esteem,_ Elizabeth finally responds.

_Not funny._

_If you say so._ Elizabeth can't help teasing him. It still amazes her that the normally cocky John Sheppard isn't a hundred percent sure of himself when it comes to their relationship.

_So, _she asks, _do you think we're stuck in another one of those fake realities?_

_I don't know. But, _John comments, _as fake realities go, this one is pretty boring. It's just black._

As if on cue, the blackness begins to fade into a gray fog. What appears to be a very large room materializes in front of them. The fog then coalesces into the form of a young woman with pale skin and long dark hair.

_Or not._

* * *

I hope that the scene switching wasn't confusing. 

You guys know what movie I was kind of quoting, right?


	4. Years Ago

**Author's Note:** As in the last chapter, the dialogue in _italics_ is thought vs. spoken.

**Moments in Time, Chapter 4**

::::: The Sphere :::::

"I mean you no harm," says the girl.

_Well…I'd believe you if I didn't have a metal spear sticking out of my neck,_ says John with every word swathed in sarcasm. _Why do they always say that after they do some-_

_John!_ Elizabeth interrupts. _Shut up a sec, will you? I think it's some sort of recording. _

"…memory device," continues the girl. "It has been sent to learn more about you…John and Elizabeth."

Elizabeth is taken aback at the pure sadness in the girl's voice as she said their names. But there isn't time to dwell on that thought as the fog rolls back in and the young girl disappears.

_Um…you didn't catch any of that, did you? _asks John sheepishly.

_Only as much as you got,_ Elizabeth responds with disapproval.

_Sorry. How as I supposed to know it was a –_

_Shh!_ Elizabeth quiets John again as the fog starts to thin.

The fog reveals the front porch of a house. It's a fairly nondescript structure and could be a house from anywhere in middle America…but there's something about it that seems familiar to Elizabeth. When an older man walks out the front door, her shock immediately registers with John.

_Dad? _

"Daddy! Daddy!"

A little girl, maybe seven or so, comes tearing around the side of the house. The man quickly comes down the porch steps and kneels just as the little girl launches herself into his arms. The man sits down on the steps and holds the girl close for a moment before pulling away so he can get a look at her.

The little girl is wearing a scruffy pair of cut-offs and a well-faded pink t-shirt that has more than a few splotches of dirt on it. Her dark hair is up in two curly pigtails, although one looks like it had been pulled down and re-tied by less than expert hands. She's valiantly trying to fight back tears, but her lower lip is trembling as she looks at her father with forlorn eyes.

John Sheppard thinks it's the most adorable thing he's ever seen. There's no doubt in his mind that he's looking at Elizabeth as a child being comforted by her father.

Little Elizabeth sniffs and Joseph Weir brushes a stray tear away with the pad of his thumb.

"What's wrong with my Lizzie?" her father asks.

Realizing that she hasn't successfully kept the tears from falling, Lizzie makes an exaggerated swipe at her eyes with the back of her arm. In it's wake, her arm leaves a smudge of dirt across her nose.

John is forced to rescind his earlier thought. Now that is the most adorable thing he's ever seen.

"Okay Lizzie," says Joe. "What have your brothers done now?"

If it's one thing that her father has learned over the years, the only ones capable of upsetting his brave and spirited little girl are her two older brothers. Everyone else usually gets either a sock in the gut or a kick to the shin. Regardless of the fact that Mike and Marc are, respectively, ten and eight years older than Lizzie, it's amazing how little they think about how their words and actions affect their little sister.

This time though, Joe has a feeling he knows what it's about. Mike is a few days away from leaving for the Naval Academy, with Marc ready to follow him in two years.

"Come on. Tell me what happened," Joe prods.

"Marc," says Lizzie before letting out abig sniff and a swiping at her nose with her hand. "Marc says that they don't let girls in the Navy Seals. That girls aren't as strong as boys. That we can't do the same stuff as boys. Is that true Daddy? I can't be a Seal because I'm a girl?"

Joe lets out a sigh as he thinks about how to answer. He knows that the majority of the military still thinks that women shouldn't and couldn't be equal to men. He even admits that he believed much the same thing until his own little girl showed him that she could be as tough as any boy. The kid down the street who's missing two front teeth, courtesy of Lizzie, can testify to that. She's going to face a lot of challenges proving herself in life and Joe has to decide between not lying to his daughter or possibly killing her dream.

"Marc is right," Joe starts, causing Lizzie's eyes to widen. He holds up a hand to keep her from getting upset right away. Lizzie frowns and bites her lip, but stays silent. "There are no women in the Navy Seals today, but that doesn't mean it can't happen someday. It's going to be a lot of hard work, but if it's really what you want, then I don't have any doubts you can be anything you want to be, Lizzie. You know why?"

"Because I'm a Weir and Weirs are tough!" she responds with a big smile.

"That's right," Joe says proudly before giving her a quick hug. "Now tell me. What did Mike say after Marc told you all this?" It worried him that his oldest son could have such a negative outlook right before leaving for the Academy.

"He said that Marc was right," says Lizzie.

"No I didn't."

Father and daughter look up to see that Mike has also come around the side of the house. He's tall and slim, but muscular, with brown hair and kind eyes the same color as Elizabeth's. He walks over to kneel in front of Lizzie. Her face scrunches up and she gives him the meanest glare she can muster.

"You didn't let me finish," says Mike with a little smile. He adores his little sister and it's hard to keep a straight face with that cute frown on her face. "I was only going to tell you that there aren't any women in the Seals, but Dad is right. You're the toughest kid I know, girl or boy. If anyone's going to make it in, it's you. I'm sorry if I upset you."

Lizzie turns and looks up at her father, as if asking permission not to be upset anymore. Joe nods and she turns back to her brother. Lizzie gives him one more scowl before smiling and wrapping her arms around Mike's neck.

"It's okay," she says seriously. "Just know better next time."

That's something their mother always says after they've been scolded and Mike can't help but laugh as he stands with Lizzie in his arms. He makes her giggle with a tickle on her tummy before hugging her close.

"I love you, kiddo. I'm going to miss you so much."

The fog rolls back in as Mike starts to tickle Lizzie mercilessly. Soon, it's gray again with the little girl's giggles fading in the stillness. John can feel Elizabeth's sense of loss and sadness.

_You okay?_ he asks.

_Not really_, Elizabeth responds. _It's been so long…I just didn't realize how much I missed them both._

They're silent for a moment, but after a while Elizabeth feels there's something John is dying to say and thinks he shouldn't.

_I can tell you want to say something. It's okay, really,_ she reassures him.

_You sure?_ John double checks.

_Yes_, Elizabeth responds and then regrets it as John's hesitation immediately switches to amusement.

_Loved the pigtails._

* * *

Wow. So I bet you guys thought I'd never come back to this story, huh? It's been – oh my – over two months since I posted an update. I humbly apologize. Thanks for your patience. I promise that future chapters won't take as long.

Oh – and the movie I was referring to in the last chapter was Die Hard 2. Right after the wife gets off the plane, she whines "John, why does it keep happening to us?". Thought it was appropriate.


End file.
